What to Do (and Not to Do) When a Media Interview Bombs [+3 Tips]

By Sarah Huard

December 17, 2024

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Media interviews don’t always go how you expect them to. Sometimes, you put a lot of effort into getting a sit-down between your CEO or client and a journalist at a major publication, only to have someone say the wrong thing in the interview, and for the article to reflect negatively on the company. 

What do you do? Do you ask that the interview be taken down or edited? Do you ever interact with that journalist again? What are the next steps? 

This blog post will address those questions and give you a clear way forward for the next time a media interview bombs.

1. When You Didn’t Get the Coverage You Wanted

Sometimes, the published article or interview doesn’t showcase your company, client, or CEO in the light that you had hoped. Maybe it didn’t include key messaging, or it framed the story in a way that feels misaligned with your goals. 

This could happen because of a lack of adequate media training and preparation ahead of time. Or it could be because the interviewer heard something from one of your competitors and decided to prioritize that story.

Or, as in the case of Intuit, which recently demanded the Verge delete part of an interview with Intuit’s CEO, the cause could be something as simple as the interviewer asking an unexpected question and the CEO not liking the resulting direction of the discussion. 

Keep in mind that earned media is different from paid media. You don’t have total say over what the journalist publishes. Still, there are steps you can take to respond effectively without damaging relationships or your reputation. 

What To Do:

Start by following up with gratitude. Even if the coverage wasn’t ideal, thank journalists for their time and the coverage. Building positive relationships helps bring future opportunities. If there are ways to clarify your messaging for potential follow-up coverage, you can subtly work that into your response. 

Next, review the pitch and preparation process for that media interview. Were the key messages clear? Did your spokesperson have sufficient media training? Identifying what could be improved ensures that you’re better prepared next time.

Also, remember that the interview isn’t the end of your story. Use your owned media like blog posts, social media, or newsletters to amplify the aspects of the interview that align with your narrative. You can frame the discussion positively while subtly steering the audience toward your key messaging.

What Not To Do:

Don’t call out the journalist for their slant or omissions. Doing so can sour the relationship and deter other journalists from working with you. Even if you respond in an email rather than on a public social media page, you may not end up with the desired result. In the case of Intuit, their accusations ended up being published and put them in an even worse light. 

If you absolutely must clarify a specific point, or the journalist specifically requests feedback, don’t bombard the journalist with a detailed critique of the article either. Instead, focus on one or two key points for clarification and keep your tone gracious and professional. 

Need to review how to write a perfect pitch? Have a look at our PR pitch guide: A Comprehensive Guide to Crafting an Effective PR Pitch [Examples + Templates]

2. When a Media Interview Includes a Factual Error

Journalists do make mistakes from time to time, and allowing factual inaccuracies, even relatively minor ones, to remain uncorrected can harm your company’s reputation and cause misinformation to spread. 

But before you set out to make corrections, it’s important to remember that the phrase “factual error” does not refer to questions of positioning. For example, situations in which the article called your client “a leader in cybersecurity” instead of “the leader in cybersecurity.” If your client doesn’t feel like the article accurately represents the brilliance of the company, simply explain that what they’re looking for is called paid advertising. 

But if there’s actually a real, verifiable error that you can demonstrate with high-tier sources or proprietary research, you can definitely craft a response. 

What To Do:

Reach out to the journalist or editor politely and professionally, explaining the error clearly and providing evidence or sources to support the correction.

Also, for future reference, keep a record of both the error and of your correspondence about it. This can be helpful if similar issues arise later or another publication repeats or reprints the mistake. 

What Not To Do:

Don’t put the journalist or publication on blast on your social accounts for a mistake. Unless you’re trying to win a reputation as a troublemaker. 

Also, when you reach out to a journalist to correct an error in a media interview, ensure that your tone is neutral. Rather than accusing journalists of malicious intent or demanding an immediate retraction, explain the problem and approach the situation collaboratively, asking if changes are possible. 

3. When an Embargo is Broken

An embargo occurs when you inform a journalist that you have an announcement that you don’t want published until a certain date, but you’re willing to share it with the journalist early. Unfortunately, from time to time, giving a media interview could result in a broken embargo. 

For instance, you may discover that a journalist has included embargoed info in an article ahead of the embargo date, or that the interviewer has wandered into unwanted territory that goes a little too close to embargoed material. If this is the case, there are a few things you can do. 

What To Do: 

First, contact the journalist immediately. Politely and firmly address the situation and confirm if the breach was accidental or intentional. Refer back to any emails or other evidence you may have that the information was under embargo. In some cases, the breach may be completely accidental, but some PR pros have reported that reporters have disregarded embargoes on purpose. 

Notify your internal team, clients, and partners about the situation. You may need to change your outgoing campaigns to reflect that the embargoed information has already been shared. 

Lastly, review your process for embargo agreements. You might be more likely to experience a breach if you send out information and include an embargo request with the information. Instead, try asking for an embargo first and then sending the information once a journalist has agreed to the embargo. 

What Not To Do:

Don’t call out the journalist or publication on social media. While it’s an understandable reaction, it can escalate the issue and damage your reputation. This is particularly true for accidental breaches. 

You also shouldn’t immediately blacklist the journalist for an accidental breach unless there’s a pattern of untrustworthy behavior. Instead, explore how to mend the professional relationship. There may be instances in which this isn’t possible, like when a journalist simply disregards an already-agreed embargo, but otherwise, reconciliation should be the goal. 

Final Thoughts

When you handle problematic situations with professionalism and strategy, you can turn less-than-perfect coverage into a learning opportunity and potentially strengthen your media relationships in the long run. 

If you’re unsure about how to respond after a recent media interview, feel free to set up a free consultation with us. We’ll help you discover how you can prepare better for interviews and make the most of every opportunity.